HUB Festival: Interprint inspires industry

New format attracts far more than 600 visitors to Essen

The future belongs to the "HUB". With the new Interior Festival, Interprint and over 600 guests from 250 companies illuminated the future of the interior design industry from various perspectives. The interdisciplinary approach met the spirit of the times: Industry representatives, designers, architects, trend specialists from all over Europe, Russia, Turkey and even from as far away as South America travelled to Essen in such large numbers that the presentations were filled to capacity with no spare places. "Our new approach is unique in the industry", said Director of Marketing & Design Salvatore Figliuzzi. The cool location was not the only unique aspect, rather more the kaleidoscopic-type line up. "Soup of the Day" was the title of Interprint's presentation. What this intended to mean was that many ingredients are required to achieve the perfect result, just like when creating a delicious soup. Design, production, suppliers and, last but not least, those who keep in touch with the customer must jointly collaborate and function like clockwork in order to ensure that the overall result is satisfying. The HUB has also exactly depicted this mixture: In addition to designers and architects such as Massimo Iosa Ghini and Sabine Keggenhoff, the trend and future experts Barbara Busse (Future+You) and Raphael Gielgen from Vitra also got a chance to speak in the series of presentations. The bloggers Antonia Schmitz and Elisabetta Rizzatto took their places on the podium to represent contemporary marketing forms. And the only professor for colour theory in Germany, Timo Rieke from the HAWK Hildesheim, spoke about the "power of colours".

On the second floor, visitors were able to discover how all these particles can combine to form products. *TSFKASP* was distributed there between different action areas. The letter abbreviation stands for "The Selection Formerly Known As Six Pack". The idea behind it: To focus on a few design trends which are successful in the long term. Interprint demonstrated such design classics with the "Titan One" decor, which concentrates on the metal trend. "Artisan", with its warm oak tone, has already made the leap from an insider's tip to the mainstream - and remains an enduring favourite in the product range. Interprint's technical innovative strength was reflected in a digital print decor, whose rapport spread out over 5 metres without repetition.

As befits such a festival, HUB did not only exhaust itself in the presentations and the exhibition – interaction and exchange were just as important. The areas in front of the presentation hall, the partner stands - where Technocell, Hornschuch, Hueck, MKT, Rehau and Sesa presented themselves - and the second floor were highly frequented during the entire two days. Ideas were exchanged, cooperations initiated and trends discussed. "The HUB worked exactly as we had desired it to do", summarises Salvatore Figliuzzi. "We do not only serve up something to the visitors, rather we also challenge them. They are in principle supposed to be the HUB themselves".

The location of the HUB Interior Festival: The Sanaa Building on the ‘Zeche Zollverein’ colliery site in Essen

The design of the exhibition in terms of materiality, structure and colour formed an inviting contrast to the austere architecture of the building (Photo: diiip.net)